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Bass Reeves/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby. An animation shows a trailer for an old-time Technicolor western, with a robot, Moby, dressed as a cowboy. He rides a horse across the desert as the words "The Open Frontier!" appear above him. He kisses a pretty female robot in front of a sunset as the words "Icky Smoochin'" appear beneath them. He rides his horse beside a moving train as the words "Wild Adventure!" appear above him. He jumps from his horse onto the side of the train as the words "Edge-Of-Your-Seat Thrills!" appear below him. His cowboy hat blows off. Tim calls to him. TIM: (voice only) Moby... He rides his horse to a hilltop. The horse rears back on its hind legs as he removes his hat, waves, and smiles. TIM: Moby! The scene changes abruptly. It reveals that Tim and Moby are at "Big Dan's Dude Ranch". Moby is straddling a fence, pretending to ride a horse. Tim walks past him, carrying a bale of straw on his shoulder. Both are dressed in fancy cowboy outfits. TIM: You're supposed to be helping me move these things. He puts down the straw bale and walks over to confront Moby. TIM: Big Dan says you're lazier than a one-eyed rattlesnake with cactus fever! MOBY: Beep. TIM: I don't know. I thought you'd know. Moby produces a typed letter from his back pocket. Tim reads it. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, can you tell me about Bass Reeves? Was he really the greatest lawman of the Old West? Sincerely, Abby. An animation shows Bass Reeves riding a horse across the prairie. He is dressed well, holding a rifle, and wearing a sheriff's badge. TIM: Bass Reeves was a legendary lawman. He patrolled the American frontier in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Over three decades, Reeves arrested more than three thousand criminals. That's way more than other famous marshals like Wyatt Earp. An image shows a plaque honoring Reeves with the years 1838-1910 on it. Next to it is a plaque honoring Wyatt Earp with the years 1848-1929 on it. The Bass Reeves plaque sticks his tounge out at the Wyatt Earp plaque. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, you can't believe everything you see in movies. According to those old westerns, everyone looked kind of the same. An image shows a poster for an old western film called "Chisum Trail." The three cast members shown on the poster are all white. TIM: But real frontier towns had a diverse mix of people, including African Americans. They were cowboys, trappers, shopkeepers, you name it. Like Bass Reeves, many were runaway slaves who went west to escape. An animation shows a frontier town with people of various races and sexes milling around. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Reeves was born in Arkansas, in 1838. A map shows the United States, with the state of Arkansas labeled. TIM: During the Civil War, he followed his owner to the front lines. Details are sketchy, but he managed to slip over the border to Oklahoma. An animation shows Reeves and other slaves walking behind a file of soldiers. Reese breaks away and runs. TIM: At the time, this area was part of Indian Territory. That was a chunk of land set aside for native peoples who'd been relocated. A map shows Arkansas and the Indian Territory. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, the government had forced several tribes to move there in the 1830s. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, the U.S. government. It wasn't one of our country's proudest chapters. At the time, national leaders were obsessed with Western Expansion. They encouraged Americans to settle in Indian lands, first in the South, and then farther and farther West. When the settlers moved in, it was only a matter of time before American Indians were forced out. Animations and a United States map illustrate American settlement pushing westward. American Indians are swept off the land with a giant brush held by Uncle Sam. TIM: For Reeves, going to Indian Territory was like escaping to another country. It was governed by the tribes who were forced to live there. That meant he was safe from the laws that would make him a slave. An animation depicts Reeves crossing the border into Indian Territory and meeting the people who lived there. TIM: For years, Reeves lived among the Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole. He picked up their languages, tracking skills, and knowledge of the landscape. An animation depicts Reeves speaking with an American Indian. TIM: He also developed into an incredible marksman. An animation shows Reeves shooting bottles off a fence. TIM: It didn't hurt that he was ambidextrous, equally skilled with both hands. An image shows Reeves with a revolver in each hand. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Sometime after the Civil War, Reeves left the Indian Territory. Slavery had been outlawed, and he was now a free man. He bought some farmland in Arkansas, got married, and raised a family. An animation shows Reeves leaving the Indian Territory, then sitting in front of his own home on the prairie, with his wife and two children. TIM: Like thousands of other Americans, Reeves was taking advantage of the Homestead Act. It let citizens acquire public land cheaply, and sometimes for free. If you farmed it for five years, the land was yours to keep. This encouraged Americans to move west, where there was tons of public land. A split screen shows Reeves farming on his land and then holding the deed. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Right. The government was still intent on expanding to the Pacific Ocean. Pioneers were starting towns and homesteads across the continent. Sheriffs and police officers helped keep the peace in these new settlements. But they were separated by vast stretches of land. These were beyond the reach of local police and made perfect hideouts for wanted men. Maps and animations illustrate the Westward Expansion and the spread of law enforcement. Icons indicate towns, outlaws, and sheriff badges.The sheriffs patrol the towns, but outlaws hide outside of town. MOBY: Beep. TIM: In response, the federal government sent in its own law enforcement, the U.S. marshals. Marshals were given authority over huge areas of land. Their job was to patrol these wild regions and capture outlaws. An animation shows Uncle Sam pinning marshal badges over states on the map. TIM: Reeves had a reputation as an expert tracker who knew the Indian Territory. The local police there were only allowed to arrest other Indians. So criminals of every kind used it as a hideout. An animation shows white men teasing an Indian police officer. TIM: Reeves was one of the first deputies hired to clean out the lawless territory and the first African American marshal in the Old West. An image shows Reeves whistling at the bad guys to catch their attention. They see him, and he confronts them with his rifle in hand. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Being born a slave, Reeves had never learned to read. Normally, that would have been a major problem for someone who had to deal with dozens of written warrants. But Reeves had a fantastic memory. He had a friend read the warrants before he rode out, and memorized which was which. In all his years of service, he never served the wrong warrant. An animation shows Reeves examining an arrest warrant, then memorizing it as a friend read it to him. TIM: He would often ride back into town, leading a string of tied-up criminals. An animation shows Reeves with several arrested men. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yep. He never let his background stop him from getting his man. He even made it work in his favor. In one close call, two outlaws had Reeves at gunpoint, ready to fire. An animation illustrates what Tim describes. TIM: So he made a last request, asking them to read a letter from his wife. An outlaw unfolds the piece of paper Reeves give him. It is a wanted poster of the outlaw himself. TIM: Before they knew it, the marshal had gained the upper hand. The outlaw looks up from the poster. Reeves has two revolvers trained upon the two criminals. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Reeves often relied more on his wits than his weapons. In 1878, he was in a tense standoff with master criminal Bob Dozier. An animation shows Reeves riding a horse on the prairie after dark. Dozier lurks behind a cactus, holding a rifle. TIM: It seemed like his luck had run out as he was totally pinned down. Dozier shoots. Reeves' horse bolts. Reeves falls to the ground, apparently unconscious. TIM: But Reeves was only playing possum. Reeves, still pretending to be out cold, cocks his pistol. TIM: He duped Dozier, who didn't live to commit another crime. An animation shows Reeves ripping up Dozier’s wanted poster. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, the Old West was a violent place. An animation shows a crowded saloon in the Old West. TIM: With police spread so thin, people carried guns and other weapons to protect themselves. But having so many armed people in one place often created its own problems. One customer accidentally bumps into another. The two draw guns on each other. MOBY: Beep. TIM: As far as we know, Reeves only ever used his gun in self-defense. Of the thousands of criminals he captured, fewer than fifteen were killed. His imposing size probably didn't hurt. He was six-foot-two, more than half a foot taller than the average guy back then. An animation shows a towering Reeves standing between the two armed customers. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, he also used disguises to catch fugitives by surprise. In one incident, he suspected that two brothers he was chasing would try to hide at their mother's house. An animation shows Reeves eating at a campfire with his horse by his side. A thought bubble shows a wanted posted for the Bill Brothers. TIM: So he disguised himself as a poor old man and knocked on her door. He told her that he was on the run from the law, and asked if he could stay awhile. When the brothers showed up, the four of them had a nice meal together. They even talked about teaming up to form a gang. But that night, Reeves handcuffed the outlaws while they slept. An animation shows the events Tim describes. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah. Pretty clever, huh? And in more than thirty years of chasing armed criminals, Reeves was never shot. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, by the early twentieth century, the frontier had pushed all the way to the Pacific. A map illustrates the expansion of the United States from coast to coast. TIM: The Old West era came to a close as the American population grew. In 1907, Oklahoma became a state and imposed Jim Crow laws. They made segregation a way of life. An animation shows the sun setting on a frontier town. TIM: African Americans were kept apart from whites, at school, in restaurants, everywhere. An image shows a fancy drinking fountain labeled "white," and a wooden bucket of water labeled "colored." TIM: They were also barred from being U.S. marshals. An image shows Reeves turning in his marshal's badge. TIM: Bass Reeves spent the last few years of his life as a police officer in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He died in 1910. An image shows Reeves walking away, swinging a billy club. MOBY: Beep. TIM: As the Old West faded into the past, its legends became the subject of movies, radio, and TV. Cowboys and gunslingers came to symbolize American grit and courage. Like other African Americans, Reeves' contributions were left out of these stories. Except… Images shows famous cowboys. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, some people believe that Reeves was the basis for the Lone Ranger. MOBY: Beep. TIM: There are actually lots of similarities. They both relied on disguises and rode white horses. Side by side images show the Lone Ranger and Reeves on their white horses. TIM: They worked with American Indians to help track down bad guys. And they left similar calling cards, silver dollars for Reeves, silver bullets for the Lone Ranger. Side by side images show the Lone Ranger and Tonto, and Reeves and an American Indian, on their horses. A silver dollar is shown over the image of Reeves and a silver bullet is shown over the image of the Lone Ranger. MOBY: Beep. TIM: We'll probably never know whether it's all just coincidence or not. But in recent years, there's been renewed interest in Reeves' real life. Someday soon, we might even see a Bass Reeves summer blockbuster. Wouldn't that be cool, Moby? Moby? A horse whinnies. Tim looks at the source of the sound. Moby, dressed as the Lone Ranger, rides off into the sunset. TIM: Who was that masked robot? Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Social Studies Transcripts